Tuesday, August 28, 2018

An online presence is not easy to be
maintained and requires continuous improvements over time to make it
function well. Giving your potential users a clear path and exposure
to your site increases users’ engagement. The most common behavior
that is ever noticed is merely switching to another site if a user
does not like a site. The ultimate goal of an online presence is
converting a customer so the better the first impression a user has
of your website, the more you get conversions.

A cluttered website is like a pile of
laundry on which things keep on piling and makes a mess of all your
efforts at some point in time. Every website comes to an end where it
requires cleaning so here are a few areas where a site needs to be
improved.

Stick To the Wireframe:

Creating a wireframe, in the beginning,
can help you stick and follow your designated path. It helps right
from the start to sail smoothly yet hold to the fundamental aspects
of a website which only a custom
website designer can do.

Re-evaluate Your Site Hierarchy:

A website owner will never come to know
about the difficulties that a user faces while navigating on the
site. The way you look at your website is not the way how your user
interacts with it. Make sure to have a clear navigation path to make
your users quickly find what they are looking for? You can also
search for ways to make your website more user-friendly to achieve
your ultimate conversion goals.

Audit Content:

The most common phrase is “Content is
King” which still persists and taking a close look at content
overtime freshens up your website and keep it updated. The scope of
businesses changes over time and does not remain the same as it was
in the beginning, so taking a close look at your website content is
mandatory to assure if the web content is in line with your business
direction.

What Changes Can Be Done To Web
Content?

Adding fresh content to your website is
mandatory. Adding new images of your business testimonials or your
team members updates your site and makes it look fresh. Moreover, you
can also add a blog section and keep on posting new informative
content in the form of blogs to let your website retain users’
interests and engagement.

Identify Broken Links:

One of the most important tasks is
regulating all the broken links on your website. A user takes not
more than 2 seconds to switch to another site so make sure that there
are no buttons on your website that takes your users to broken pages.

Fix It:

It only requires a few seconds to take
a user test of your website and identify the non-functional pages and
fix them.

Check Plugins:

Every website is built on a platform
either it is Joomla, WordPress or Magento, and each of them has their
outstanding plugins and updates. Websites that are built on WordPress
are introduced to routine updates to improve the functionalities of
the site. Unused themes and plugins not only occupy precious disk
space but may also pose security threats to your site. Advancing the
updates, installing useful plugins and removing the un useful plugins
give your site a booster for better health. Go through your WordPress
Media Library and remove any unused images that aren’t
attached to your posts and pages anymore.

Conclusion:

Decluttering the website does not end
the tasks. Do you know how many people visited your site last month,
or what are the top most visited pages and the pages from which your
customers bounce back? Start studying the website analytics and
identify the invaluable information to your business. It helps you
know about your customers’ interests, likes and dislikes and thus
let your website perform better.

Author Bio:

Loius Martin is a digital marketing enthusiast and shares knowledge about design and marketing through his blogs. With years of experience, he has covered major areas of search engine optimization and digital marketing. Read more of his articles at @loiusmartin1

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Take a forty-seven-day adventure designed to roust the mid-life blues surrounding her upcoming forty-seventh birthday. Filled with humor, insights and perspective, "47 Days of Me" is a book that leaves you cheering for the heroine as she traverses friendships, on-line dating, and her search for a fresh outlook on life.

47 Days of Me is a celebration of myself and a reflection upon my past, present and future. Like many women recovering from a second divorce, I was feeling blue and getting older was not helping. My 47 birthday was approaching, and I was dreading it. Instead of crawling into my shell and letting life pass me by, I chose to exploit my birthday. The next 47 days were going to be all about me. Trying new things or doing something out of the ordinary to expand my comfort zone was key. I made new friends and had numerous dates. I threw in a little travel, new adventures and simple pleasures.

Follow me through my journey of making the most of everyday, looking for love through online dating, scrutinizing new gray hairs and fine wrinkles, and fretting about being single and alone. 47 Days of Me is a relatable story that many women will enjoy.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

"An insightful, humorous, and intelligent memoir of what it means to be human...and deeply flawed. Spina's story of self-deceit, the alcohol addicted life of control, and redemption is compelling, disturbing, and inspiring. Depicting addiction as an "entity" - ruling all aspects of a one's life. It is a must-read for alcohol and drug addicts, and their family members. This is an honest view on addiction!" -D.M.

WHEN I REACHED END STAGE ALCOHOLISM, I WAS POSSESSED.

Time and again, I narrowly escaped His murderous attempts.

Not this time.

If you are willing to believe that there is a possibility you can return to sanity and freedom, my story may serve as the catalyst for an extraordinary recovery.

"I Almost Murdered a Complete Stranger:Embarrassing Truths of a Madman's Journey" is a visceral, deadpan account of a near-death experience brought on by the all-too-human descent into chronic alcoholism.

Since his awakening to a deep understanding of alcoholism as a life-long affliction, Jim's obsession has been lifted, leaving him free of his desire to drink for the first time in 41 years! Reflecting deeply, he begs the answer to the question, "what changed?"

This book does not offer practical insights for recovery, self-help platitudes, or "lessons learned."

Anyone whose lives have been shattered by this affliction (and those who love them or treat them) will find support in rekindling hope for freedom, for sanity, and to live a better life.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

As the parent - What do you say? What do you do? How do you cope with what is about to unfold in your life?

A parent's life can change forever when a child "comes out" and says they are transgender. Whether your child is 5 or 50, the word "transgender" or "transition", will likely cause a multitude of conflicting emotions and countless questions. Parents, are often unprepared to know what's next and most importantly, know how to care for themselves in the process.

This book was written to make the adjustment process easier for parents or anyone who loves a transgender person. Specifically, you will:

· Gain insight regarding what the issues are that parents commonly face · Receive valuable suggestions on how to work through feelings such as grief, denial, depression, anger, shame and guilt. · Learn conflict management for siblings and other family members. · Become well-versed in knowing what to say to others and how to effectively deal with resistance. · Develop effective methods of addressing religious, cultural and social issues. · Discover how to cope and take care of yourself in the process · Understand acceptance and what it can mean for you as the parent. This book is a must-read resource for family members, educators, clergy, counselors, the medical field, social awareness advocates and everyone who loves a transgender person and the parent raising them.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Much confusion exists about what goes inside or outside of the end quotes in dialogue.

To digress briefly, the only sentences that should be included in quotation marks are something that someone said. Quotes are used a lot to set off passages taken from other writing. Though allowed, quotation marks are being over-used to draw attention to words and phrases other than dialogue. Considering dialogue, quotes can also be used to set off a repeated portion of something another person said. An example:

~ His response to revealing the secret was that it was “deep and dark.”

Now consider this sentence:

~ San Francisco is known as “The City by the Bay.”

In the examples with quotation marks, I would immediately wonder who said that. Yet, it isn’t written as dialogue. The correct way to set off a title or information other than dialogue is to present it in italics.

San Francisco is known as The City by the Bay.

Having clarified that, what follows is the correct positioning of the end quotes on various forms of dialogue.

All punctuation, whether statement, question or exclamation, belongs inside the end quotes.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

In the above sentence, the question mark must follow the question, then the end quotes. Even though we use a question mark instead of a comma, the sentence continues with she asked.

“We went to the movie first.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“I told you, I did it,” she said.

Notice in the last example above that the sentence wasn’t complete until after the word said. A comma was used after it, then the end quotes. The variation from the sentence above with the question mark is that a question mark always follows a question, regardless that there is more to the sentence.

Then we get into a person relating something someone else said. That’s where you find single quotes inside double quotes.

“When she became obstinate, her mother said, ‘Go to your room!’”

In this example of dialogue, the sentence within a sentence – Go to your room – is set off with single quotation marks. Notice that the exclamation point ending the dialogue goes inside both sets of end quotes: The exclamation point, then the single end quote to end the dialogue within dialogue, and then the double end quote signifying the final end to the entire string of dialogue.

The exclamation point belongs with the string Go to your room, so belongs inside the single end quote. In the cases where an exclamation point should end the embodying string of dialogue, the exclamation point would be placed between the single end quote and the double one, like this:

“I hated that he quietly said, ‘It’s over’!”

Notice here, too, the lack of a period after the repeated dialogue. Someone else said It’s over but it is not the end of the whole sentence that is being spoken in anger. So the exclamation point belongs after the single quote mark but inside the double end quotes.

For most writers, the simple rule is that all punctuation goes inside the end quotes. When it becomes more complicated is when you begin to quote dialogue where one person is telling what another person said. Then many more variations exist.

Much to any writer’s chagrin, instruction for proper usage of quotation marks could fill many pages. It’s wise to have a reputable book of punctuation nearby and seek out the exact examples and solutions you may need for your prose.

To assure your punctuation won’t get your prose rejected, I highly recommend The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

An unscrupulous US Senator--A bio-engineered terror--And neo-Nazi plot to resurrect the "Final Solution."Only one man can stop the deaths of millions... if he can survive.

The countdown to disaster has begun and a new Nazi Final Solution is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

Adam Dekker is accused of orchestrating a mad, daring attack on the US Capitol using flesh-eating locusts to wipe out the entire US Congress.

Except Dekker had nothing to do with the attack.

Targeted by a Senate inquiry, as well as a shadowy international billionaire determined to kill him, Dekker narrowly escapes an attempt on his life.

Dekker must run--from an unseen enemy and the FBI.

In bits and pieces, Dekker finds it is Godfreid Wagner, a secret neo-Nazi, who is using his wealth to hunt him across the country to protect his secret: a bio-engineered virus that, when unleashed, will kill millions.

As a fugitive, Dekker must find some way to protect his life, clear his name, and return to his job at the National Counterterrorism Center.

Fighting and evading Wagner's mercenaries while racing across the country, Dekker discovers a secret laboratory among buildings buried near the Denver International Airport--the very lab where Wagner's genetics team has already created and successfully tested the killer virus. And now this madman is ready to unleash the virus across the country and kill millions.

How will Dekker break into the underground facility and stop the plan to unleash the newest iteration of the Final Solution? Who will be saved--who can be saved?